Twitter Not Credible? CEO EV Has A Plan

854 days ago by Sarah Chong, in Uncategorized

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Twitter has managed to shape its branding from a “what you’re doing” social site to a real time news source (e.g. Iran Election).

With blogging on the rise, news can be shared by anyone and is more viral than ever.

But because of this very phenomenon, credibility issues are also surfacing.

Issue of Credibility

On Twitter, you can share unverified information, knowledge and news anonymously, or as anyone else. There are no gatekeepers to ensure accurate transmission of news.

Co Founder Evan Williams (@ev) commented:

“Anonymity was a key thing for the people there … How do you have anonymity and trust … that is a key thing,” he said.

“It demonstrated a potential we thought was there … having worked on technologies that allow people to publish more information freely, I believe, is a good thing … but it also says to me ‘Wow,’ we have so much more to do.”

Reputation Validating System

So what plans do Twitter have up its sleeves to counter this problem? EV revealed that Twitter is working on a reputation validating system based on users’ ratings of each other.

“We are working on reputation systems … You may not know someone is trustworthy, but other people who are trustworthy trust them.”

It is also working on several other things to increase the site’s credibility as a rich source for information and trends. For one, tweets will soon have an option to show where they are coming from.

EV believes that that will reduce the number of unreliable tweeters around. For example, users tweeting about Typhoon Ondoy real time should be tweeting from Indonesia, and being able to verify that would help other users discern their credibility.

Twitter On The Right Track

I always appreciate how social media has allowed individuals to add their own flavor into the content they share. Professionally written and credible news reports are all good, but sometimes we are just looking for something a tad more personal.

On the flip side of the coin, we have people who abuse this privilege. What Twitter is doing can help us consume fast paced information with lesser chance of being misled or cheated.

Twitter is creating a community that builds on trust, eliminating people who don’t deserve it.

So what do you think? Let us know via comments.

Source: CBS

Tags: Evan Williams, Twitter

About Sarah Chong

Co-founder and editor of Penn Olson. A laid-back marketing student otherwise. Loves social media and twitters about everything! (yes even about the stranger who chants to himself) A huge Harry Potter movie fan who is extremely scared of geckos.

View all posts by Sarah Chong →

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holgerschmidt

There is already a Twitter repuation system: Try http://tweetranking.com, wherer Twitterer can recommend each other. The results are rankings of the most trustworthy people on Twitter.
deylight

Information quality meter/monitor ok–but twitter is in no position to put a reputation label on anyone–except Twitter What will they call the list white list and Black list like their API app ratings. On what authority will such ratings be made? Librarians and Information professionals can only go so far and tech folks can't be expected to be capable of determining the reliability of info in a broad spectrum of fields– have they hired knowledge professionals for that work?? Bet not–
http://www.facebook.com/sherry.lowry Sherry Lowry

I really, really like the clean, crisp and simple appearance of this site – and appreciate the Twitter “credibility” article by Sarah Chong that brought it to my attention – via the assistance of @Twitter_Tips.

>>EV revealed that Twitter is working on a reputation validating system based on users’ ratings of each other.
“We are working on reputation systems … You may not know someone is trustworthy, but other people who are trustworthy trust them.”<<

This makes total sense to me and I'll be glad to participate actively in such. Thanks, EV!
http://www.facebook.com/sherry.lowry Sherry Lowry

Ahh…thanks, holgerschmidt – i did not realize this and will definitely connect to it.

@sherrylowry
JustMeOutHere

Reputation is a very valid concern… as well as legitimacy. I see a lot of lovely folks tweeting some celebs which seem to be less than genuine. They are unverified. If we see obvious fakes what takes so long to get rid of them them and anyone that knows please list a decent site to report the fake celebs.
http://twitter.com/Sarah_Chong Sarah Chong

Hi there!

The system as we know it is going to based on users' ratings. Works like reddit and biz sugar. if you think a user is not credible, you can vote down on him. This is as far as I can interpret from the short interview! (: Something like a neighborhood isn't it? Can't afford a bad reputation.

The authorities wont be the one labeling anyone, no worries!
http://twitter.com/Sarah_Chong Sarah Chong

Thanks for sharing! (: integrating this system into twitter would be much more convenient for everyone.
http://twitter.com/Sarah_Chong Sarah Chong

Thanks, Sherry! Yup communities work completely on trust and we are glad we can eliminate people who are not here for the right reasons!
http://twitter.com/Sarah_Chong Sarah Chong

Hopefully this issue would be solved really soon! thanks for sharing (:
LLS

I understand the idea of having a peer rating system and support it in theory, but …
I am moderator on a large board that has a system and it is sometimes abused because of personal feuding.
Like it or not there is a large number of people who use Twitter as a large public chat room and personal baggage comes along with that. If you don't know the players and the motives someone could be unfairly rated by a group effort to discredit them. That could also apply to companies using Twitter, all it might take is one angry person with soap box charisma.
Just pointing out the rating system could be a useful tool — or a personal weapon.

And then there's this. There is already a growing pile of apps for those who want bells and whistles. What I and others I know love about Twitter is it's simplicity, if it continually becomes more elaborate will there be a point we just won't bother anymore ? My bet is yes.
http://twitter.com/Sarah_Chong Sarah Chong

Hi there!

Thanks for sharing. I agree with you 100% on it being possibly a personal weapon. But I will let Twitter worry about how to cope with that.

About being more elaborate, I see your concern too. With most people welcoming the added features, most of us have forgotten about its initial appeal, simplicity! I wonder what Twitter would look like once the retweet system and other features are up. Hopefully, it would be welcomed by most and remain to be attractive for a long time (:
brtsflk

simply because of the format, info posted on twitter will have a modicum of error. this is the human thing, just as personal honesty is a human thing. twitter is for fun first, truth in info second, or third or fourth???